While Andre Iguodala’s 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left in overtime will go down as the game-winning shot in the Nuggets’ 119-118 win over Chicago, the Bulls feel otherwise.

“We felt like we got it stolen from us,” Bulls forward Carlos Boozer said, referring to the play with 1.7 seconds left in which Chicago center Joakim Noah grabbed a shot from teammate Marco Belinelli that was on its downward path to the basket and slammed it home.

The officials initially didn’t blow their whistles, but when Denver called an immediate timeout and loudly complained that it was goaltending, the referees reviewed video and disallowed Noah’s bucket, sending the Bulls to their seventh loss in their last 11 games.

“If we deem the ball in its descent has a chance to score, and therefore it’s in the cylinder, it’s either offensive basket interference or it’s goaltending, that’s it,” referee Ken Mauer told a pool reporter when asked about the game-deciding call.

“It’s a tough play,” Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said, citing a similar play just before Noah’s by Denver’s Kosta Koufos that was not called by the officials.

“From my angle, it looked like it was a good play, it looked like the ball was short,” Thibodeau said of Noah’s play. “Koufos’, I know was on the rim, and to me I guess we have to call the league and get an interpretation. Maybe I don’t understand the rule correctly.”

Noah was incensed.

“That’s what is frustrating. How are you going to review that one, but you can’t review the one two plays before it. … I just know the refs are doing the best they can in those situations, but it cost us the game today, it’s disappointing.”

Denver coach George Karl didn’t see it that way — but with somewhat of a caveat about the similar circumstances surrounding Koufos’ play.

“There is no question it was goaltending,” Karl said of Noah’s play. “The ball was going to hit the rim. I was too far away to see the play on Kosta’s tip-in shot.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress emphatically approved legislation Friday preserving jobs on transportation projects from coast to coast and avoiding interest rate increases on new loans to millions of college students, giving lawmakers campaign-season bragging rights on what may be their biggest economic achievement before the November elections.

The bill sent for President Barack Obama’s signature enables just over $100 billion to be spent on highway, mass transit and other transportation programs over the next two years, projects that would have expired Saturday without congressional action. It also ends a bare-knuckle political battle over student loans that raged since spring, a proxy fight over which party was best helping voters muddle through the economic downturn.

Obama signed a one-week temporary measure Friday evening, permitting the highway and loan programs to continue until the full legislation reaches his desk.

Under the bill, interest rates of 3.4 percent for subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduates will continue for another year, instead of doubling for new loans beginning on Sunday as scheduled by a law passed five years ago to save money.

Had the measure failed, interest rates would have mushroomed to 6.8 percent for 7.4 million students expected to get the loans over the coming year, adding an extra $1,000 to the average cost of each loan and antagonizing students — and their parents — four months from Election Day.

The Democratic-led Senate sent the measure to Obama by a 74-19 vote, just minutes after the Republican-run House approved it 373-52. The unusual display of harmony, in a bitterly partisan year, signaled lawmakers’ eagerness to claim credit for providing transportation jobs, to avert higher costs for students and their families and to avoid being embarrassed had the effort run aground.

This year has seen the two parties mostly drive each other’s plans for tax breaks and economic revival into a stalemate, although lawmakers have enacted bills retaining the Social Security payroll tax cut for a year and renewing a government agency that promotes U.S. exports.

"It’s important for Congress to act, not just talk about problems we have but to get things done," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., a chief House author of the transportation measure.

"We have a bill that will boost this economy," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a sponsor who said the measure would create or save 2.8 million jobs. "We have a bill that is supported by conservatives and liberals, progressives and moderates. I think this is a great day."

All the no votes were cast by Republicans.

The compromise ended up sprinkled with unrelated nuggets dealing with Asian carp, roll-your-own tobacco and federal timber aid. But its most significant provisions dealt with transportation and student aid.

The final transportation measure dropped a provision — which had drawn an Obama veto threat — that would have forced government approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Texas coast. But it contains curbs on environmental reviews of transportation projects. Republicans sought those curbs in hopes of cutting construction time almost in half.

The bill consolidates federal transportation programs and gives states more flexibility in spending money from Washington. It also contains an array of safety initiatives including requirements aimed at enhancing bus safety. And it makes advocates of bike and pedestrian paths compete for money with other transportation projects.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration was glad Congress acted "before middle class families pay the price for inaction." He said Obama will keep pressing for approval of more of his job-creating proposals from last year, to hire teachers, police officers and firefighters and for tax credits to companies that hire new workers.

Most of the overall measure was financed by extending federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel for two more years. Those levies, unchanged for nearly two decades, are 18.4 cents a gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel and now fall well short of fully financing highway programs, which they were designed to do.

About $20 billion would be raised over the next decade by reducing tax deductions for companies’ pension contributions and increasing the fees they pay to federally insure their pension plans. In return, a formula was changed to, in effect, let companies apportion less money for their pensions and to provide less year-to-year variation in those amounts.

To raise other revenue, the government will start charging interest on subsidized Stafford loans no more than six years after undergraduates begin their studies. Today no interest is charged until after graduation, no matter how long that takes.

In addition, a loophole was tightened to make it harder for businesses with roll-your-own cigarette machines to classify the tobacco they sell as pipe tobacco — which is taxed at a lower rate than cigarette tobacco. The change is expected to raise nearly $100 million.

Some federal workers would be allowed to work part-time as they gradually retire, saving the government money because the workers would receive only partial salaries and retirement annuities.

As often happens with bills that are certain to win the president’s signature, the measure became a catch-all for other unrelated provisions.

One would order the government to accelerate work on a plan for preventing Asian carp, which devour other species, from entering the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River. It drew opposition from Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., and some other lawmakers arguing that blocking the fish could interfere with shipping, but the Senate turned their objections aside.

Federal flood insurance programs that protect 5.6 million households and businesses were extended, allowing higher premiums and limiting subsidies for vacation homes to help address a shortfall in the program caused by claims from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

The measure also steers 80 percent out of billions in Clean Water Act penalties paid by BP and others for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion to the five Gulf states whose beaches and waters were soiled by the disaster. The money would have otherwise gone to federal coffers.

Federal timber subsidies worth $346 million would be distributed for another year to rural counties, while other funds would be steered to rural school districts. The bill also eases restrictions that force most American food aid to be shipped abroad on U.S.-flagged vessels.

CHICAGO (AP) — An increase in child abuse, mostly in infants, is linked with the recent recession in new research that raises fresh concerns about the impact of the nation’s economic woes.

CHICAGO (AP) — An increase in child abuse, mostly in infants, is linked with the recent recession in new research that raises fresh concerns about the impact of the nation’s economic woes.

The results are in a study of 422 abused children from mostly lower-income families, known to face greater risks for being abused, and the research involved just 74 counties in four states. But lead author Dr. Rachel Berger of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh said the results confirm anecdotal reports from many pediatricians who’ve seen increasing numbers of shaken baby cases and other forms of brain-injuring abuse.

Berger decided to study this type of injury, known as abusive head trauma, after noticing an increase at her own hospital from late 2007 through June 2009. Her hospital averaged 30 cases per year during those recession years versus 17 yearly before 2007.

Though this abuse is still uncommon, the number of cases in the counties studied increased sharply, rising from about 9 cases per 100,000 children in pre-recession years, to almost 15 per 100,000 kids during the recession — a 65 percent increase.

By contrast, juvenile diabetes — a better-known condition — affects about 19 per 100,000 children younger than age 10.

Children studied were younger than 5, and most were infants. Most suffered brain damage and 69 died, though the death rate didn’t rise during the recession.

Unemployment rates in the 74 counties rose during the five-year study. The proportion of children on Medicaid in those counties also increased, from 77 percent before the recession to 83 percent. However, insurance and family employment information were not reported for the abused children in the study.

Combine the stress of raising a young child with wage cuts or lost jobs and you get "a sort of toxic brew in terms of thinking about possible physical violence," said Mark Rank, a social welfare professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He said the study echoes sociological research linking violence with declines in economic well-being.

Along with U.S. Census data released last week indicating that a record 46 million Americans are poor, the study shows that "as poverty goes up and economic stagnation continues…there are really human costs involved," Rank said.

The study was released online Monday in Pediatrics.

The counties studied included Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania; central and southern Ohio; and a handful of counties in northern Kentucky and in the Seattle area. The researchers examined medical records and national labor statistics for 2004 through November 2007 and compared them with data from the recession.

Of the 422 children diagnosed with abusive head trauma during the study, roughly 65 cases occurred each year before the recession, versus about 108 yearly during the recession.

Federal government data suggest that the recession did not affect child abuse rates. But the study authors said those numbers are based on reports from child protective services, not medical diagnoses, and did not address brain injuries specifically.

The research doesn’t prove that the recession caused the abuse. Studying different regions and children from more middle-class families would help clarify if the recession really played a role, said Dr. Peter Sherman, director of the residency program in social pediatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in New York.

Sherman noted that most children studied were publicly insured even before the recession, suggesting that their families were already struggling financially.

Still, the recession affected many lower-income families, and Sherman said the study highlights "a very important issue."

Many of his patients are from poor families and abuse is not uncommon, he said.

He said pediatricians could help with prevention by asking families about difficulties paying for food or shelter and referring those in need to social service agencies. Sometimes just asking parents about stresses in their lives and acknowledging their struggles can help, he said.

Most parents who abuse young children aren’t "ill-intentioned," he said. "Most of it is kind of just snapping…maybe being sleep-deprived and just losing it. It’s something that can happen to anyone. Economics is just another stress" that can increase the risks, Sherman said.

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The 14 franchise owners that make up Chicago’s Black McDonald’s Operators Association are an example of diversity at McDonald’s Corp.

The 14 franchise owners that make up Chicago’s Black McDonald’s Operators Association are an example of diversity at McDonald’s Corp.

Among them, BMOA members own 39 Chicago-area McDonald’s restaurants which span from O’Hare airport to Whiting, Ind.

Nationally, 1,300 McDonald’s restaurants are Black-owned.

BMOAhas long stood out as an example of how to diversify a company, said William Whitman, vice president of communications for McDonald’s Corp. who is among the more than 20 minority executives working for the fast food chain headquartered in west suburban Oak Brook.

“McDonald’s realized years ago that the key to success is diversity,” Whitman told the Defender. “It is a good place to work especially for minorities because there are always opportunities opening up.”

While contributing to the success of McDonald’s bottom line as a corporate empire, Ron Childs, a spokesman for BMOA, said the organization is committed to exhibiting leadership, supporting education and developing partnerships within the African American communities that they serve.

Among the charities supported by BMOA is the Annual Chicago Football Classic. This year BMOA sponsored the Classic’s college fair.

Another charitable event is the Food for the Body and Spirit event. Each year BMOA provides Thanksgiving dinners to various shelters.

Helping the needy is nothing new to Ron Lofton, a BMOA member, who owns five restaurants on the West Side.

He bought his first restaurant in 1993 and said it was one of the smartest things he could have done.

“I knew it then and I know it now that becoming a McDonald’s franchise owner was a smart move, personally and professionally,” he said. “The West Side has been good to me. People really underestimate the spending power of Blacks. And the value of my stores have tripled since I first purchased them.”

The restaurant at 3200 W. Roosevelt Road, which Lofton said is his highest grossing one, is worth $1.8 million, according to Lofton, who paid $367,000 to purchase it over 10 years ago.

He contributes part of his success to the strong support franchise owners receive from the corporate office.

“Management at McDonald’s makes you feel like you are part of the family. That’s probably why 18 percent of their total sales come from Black franchises,” Lofton explained. “I hope to purchase more stores if the opportunity is there.”

Lofton said he would like to hand over his McDonald’s empire to his son once he retires. His son works with him overseeing all of the marketing initiatives.

Of the BMOA members, Derrick Taylor and his wife, Cheryl, own the most restaurants in Chicagoland with six.

The former professional football player for the Denver Broncos who turned entrepreneur has all his restaurants on the South Side.

After working 14 years for the city of Chicago as an engineer and assistant aviation commissioner at O’Hare airport, Taylor purchased his first restaurant in 2000 at the Chicago Skyway, 8871 S. Kingston, which today is his most profitable restaurant.

Initially, Taylor became a franchise owner so his wife could retire from her hospital job, which she eventually did. No she coowns the restaurants with him.

“I wanted her to be able take it easy and not work so hard,” Taylor said. “She is my co-pilot. I cannot fly without her. She still works hard but at least now it is for us and not someone else.”

In 2006 the Taylors bought two restaurants: one at 29 E. 87th St. and another at 7900 S. King Drive, which produces the most volume.

I have always been community oriented and being a franchise owner of McDonald’s has made me more community oriented,” Taylor explained. “I work with a lot of teenagers and my customers come from all walks of life. Helping people is something I enjoy.”

Sercurity is a hot button for Taylor, who also owns restaurants at 1656 W. 95th St., 9730 S. Western Ave., and 1443 E. 87th St.

“Security is a big issue because teenagers sometimes get a little wild and when this occurs security is often needed,” he told the Defender.

Whitman added that McDonald’s minority base also includes Cuban-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, women and Latinos. “McDonald’s is comprised of a good core of ethnic groups,” he said.

Examples of minorities in top management positions include its general legal counsel, who is Latino, and Don Thompson who, in 2007, became the internationally known chain’s first Black president to oversee its U.S. operations.

“Our leadership team is made up of good managers who are well diverse, too,” Whitman explained. “I know for a fact that other companies are looking to duplicate our diversity model and that’s fine because we want to set the standard for diversity.”

ADVERTORIAL

ComEd is determined to be the best electric delivery and energy information company by providing superior value for our customers and our employees through innovative solutions to meet their needs. Critical to our success in this effort is our commitment to a diverse workforce. Diversity is a business imperative, a core value and a moral obligation for ComEd. As the provider of electricity for 3.8 million customers in northern Illinois, including the city of Chicago, our strength flows from our employees. We strive to attract and retain talented, highly motivated people who understand the importance of embracing differences in their colleagues and promoting an environment of inclusion in all aspects of our business.

ComEd has 6,000 employees and among them 36 percent are minorities and 22 percent are women. Our employees reflect the communities that we serve and it is our diversity that enables us to better connect with ourá minority- and women-owned businesses. For example, our spending with diverse suppliers in 2008 totaled $168.5 million.

Among the many reasons why diversity is important to ComEd is the broad range of viewpoints that come with having a diverse workforce. We believe that every individual has the potential to make outstanding contributions regardless of their age, race, gender, color, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical abilities, veteran status, or religion. Building upon the diversity of our workforce increases our chances of achieving success. We view diversity as an essential business model for a sustainable future but the overarching reason it’s so important to ComEd is this: it’s the right thing to do.

Col. Eugene Scott (Ret.), left, stands with Maj. Gen. Campbell and Chicago Defender President Michael House at the Defender Charities’ Nov. 11 Veterans Day celebration in Bronzeville. Scott is president of the Defender Charities.

Each year, Col. Scott, second from right, and the Defender Charities, a non-profit community outreach organization, pay tribute to the service men and women and the sacrifices that they make or have made as part of the U.S. military. The event draws elected officials, such as Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., left, military personnel like Rear Admiral Norman Hayes, second right, and other active and retired military. Also pictured are U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-7th, second row, left, and Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), second row right.

As part of an annual salute to the nation’s veterans, ROTC students from Chicago Public Schools military schools, including Chicago Military Academy, 3519 S. Giles Ave., participate in the Defender Charities’ Veterans Day celebration. Other military schools include Bronzeville at 4934 S. Wabash. Students, in general, and education are the hallmark of the Defender Charities’ mission. Each year the organization gives hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships to students pursuing higher education.

WASHINGTON – The National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation gave four top awards during its annual Newsmaker of the Year Awards Gala.

WASHINGTON – The National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation gave four top awards during its annual Newsmaker of the Year Awards Gala.

Civil rights dean, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, was honored as the Black Press of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient at the March 19 gala.

Lowery was introduced by Harry Alford, president of the National Black Chamber of Commerce as a “giant” among giants, who during the pains of Jim Crow and segregation, “didn’t kneel to Pharaoh; they didn’t bend over to Caesar, they made the world change for the better.”

Lowery received a standing ovation as he made his way to the podium. His 87-year-old frame appeared strong despite a brief illness that caused him to pass out after a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church March 15.

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